Coming down the staircase was a cold and awful wind. It yawned and it yelled as it descended down the stairs. In the house all was quiet and dark. The damp stench of dying hope sagged in the presence of one other human. A man, lost in the ever presence of despair, sat in his lonesome chair. Decorated in solemn robes made of worry and grief, he waited.

Shoulders tensing up, he lifted his head where years of crying and pleading betrayed his age. In his eyes, full of loss and sorrow, there was a sudden burning light. His brows furrowed as he narrowed his eyes. Staring ahead he slowly pushed off of the chair. Wheezing and clutching his chest he began to walk forward toward the staircase.

“Annay, where‘re you?”

Taking cautious steps, he moved ever so stiffly closer and closer to his destination. He hesitated as he took four more paces and fell to his knees, angrily gripping his chest. Coughing and spluttering he began to crawl aimlessly. Gasping for air, the man began to look up into the ceiling, searching and searching for something that was not there. His eyes ran around the room in ever agony as they could not find what they were seeking. Hope lost; the man fell once more on his face, crying.

“Annay, why? Why? Come back, Annay. Come back.” He sobbed.

Wiping his face, full of tears and snot, he lifted himself up into a hopelessly tight crouch. He stayed there for a while until the midnight air wafted carelessly through the home. Shaking him with fear he crossed his arms and tightened into an ever tighter crouch. He looked up, like a dog lost from his home, and began to whimper. Silently crying, he whined and whimpered as the cold air whispered all around him. Hesitantly he stopped. He looked around as if listening to a quiet lullaby.

From within the staircase came a solemn gray glow. It hummed and it grew ever so bright as the man continued to listen. A soft but tender song wafted through the breeze, bringing with it a sudden sense of calm and ease that released the poor man from his trance. Shaking his head, he agitatedly stood straight and direct as an army officer. Face stern and determined, he began to walk towards the staircase.

Contorted from the glow, a soft figure was made out. It had a face as smooth as a baby’s and its arms and fingers moved flawlessly as it beckoned to the man. Entranced in her presence, he followed, being agile in ever step he took. Up and up the stairs, the glowing woman retreated, the man at her heels. At the top of the staircase the woman stopped and hesitated as she waited for the man. He looked up at her attentively as if he were an adoring child waiting for his mum to give him blessings. She reached out and caressed the old man’s face and he closed his eyes in return.

Humming in delight the man eased more towards the woman and collapsed into her arms. There, the woman embraced him and gently began to lift him off the staircase, guiding him into the dark corridor. The man, smiling in delight, was fast asleep in her arms. Embracing him even more tightly, the glowing woman enveloped him in a startling golden mist, as she floated him with her.

Searching through the rooms with her mind, she guided the man into an open doorway where a window sat at the far end of the room. The window moaned as the curtains edged around its frame and the wind flew in and out from it. The glowing woman gently pulled the curtains aside and sat by the window with the man in her arms. She caressed his face once more and gently kissed his brow, causing the man to flutter his eyes open.

“Annay, you came back for me,” whispered the man, closing his eyes once more, as the woman ran her hand over his face.
The glowing woman nodded and with a simple movement jumped out of the window and into the cold and darkened night, taking the man with her.